Success
by Hai-Akatsuki
Summary: Sakura and Itachi are stuck in a castle. Can they get past the deadly traps and get out unharmed? Why are they even there in the first place? ItaSaku. AH/AU. Chapter 1-"Welcome, my special ones. I wonder, can you escape? Most importantly, can you save the ones closest to you? Or will you lose everything you have ever loved? Let the games begin."


**Warnings: **Rated M for blood, gore, and mild swearing.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Chapter 1: Stuck**

* * *

_'Wow, my head hurts so much...What happened to me?'_

Sakura woke up in a dimly lit room, feeling groggy. She also had a killer headache and she was feeling grumpy because of it. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was walking home from her late night shift at the hospital and then...darkness. Why couldn't she remember?

Running a hand through her soft, pink hair she looked around her surroundings blearily with her striking emerald eyes, finding poorly lit torches on the walls. '_Where is this place? I haven't been here before',_ Sakura thought.

She wanted to check if she was wearing the same clothes since her hospital shift. Looking down at herself, she saw she had her scrubs on still.

'_Oh, how flattering, this feels like the walk of shame except I'm sure I didn't sleep with anyone. C'mon Sakura, think. What were you doing last night and how did you end up here?'_

She thought really hard, searching for memories. A few glimpses, but that was all. She saw a dark glove, reaching out for her. Shaking her head out of her thoughts, she decided to ask dumbly if anyone else was there with her. '_Yes Sakura, let's be the stupid person who asks if anyone's there and get killed.' _Regardless, she shrugged. '_Oh well, nothing to lose. Let's hope nothing jumps out at me.'_

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

Sakura saw slight movement out of the corner of her eye and went into a defensive stance. Her heart started beating rapidly, pumping adrenaline throughout her body in a matter of seconds.

"Show yourself!" she demanded. The direction she was looking in was mostly dark and couldn't make out who it was. Finally, a tall and dark figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself. Her eyes traveled from his feet to his face as he stepped out: Black shoes accompanied with black pants and a collared, button-up black shirt. '_Of course it would be all black. I wonder if he's the grim reaper.' _Sakura inwardly rolled her eyes.

Silky black hair up to his strong shoulders with onyx eyes stared back at her. His fine eyebrows, sculpted jaw, the lines on his face. His handsome features were dimly lit by the torches around him.

_'No...it couldn't be. How could he be here? Why? At least he's not the grim reaper. Life preserved for another day!' _Sakura was experiencing a conflict of emotions: incredulity, anger and relief.

While she was having an internal battle, his masculine scent reached out to her, overpowering her senses.

_'Oh who cares? He smells damn good.'_

Sakura unconsciously stepped closer to him to take in the smell. He smelled like he always did; of fresh pine trees that brought back wonderful memories.

"Haruno."

_'Oh, so we're on a last name basis now?'_ She stiffened, taking a step back. "Uchiha Itachi. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Itachi pointed out.

Sakura turned her back on him and crossed her arms. "Yeah, well I don't know. I just woke up here and I can't remember anything."

"Hn, I cannot remember as well."

She decided to take a chance and ask him a question. "Itachi...why did you leave-"

"Sakura, I do not want to have this conversation with you." His voice sounded...pained?

Sakura wanted to sneak a look at his face to see if his voice matched his expression. Unfortunately for her, when she did glance at him, he looked impassive. "Fine, but you're having this conversation with me soon enough, whether you like it or not!"

"I do not recognize this place. Do you?" Itachi diverted her attention to his question.

"No, but I wanna get out of here. This room is giving me the creeps," Sakura shivered.

The blossom-haired girl searched around and found the door. She put her left hand on the door knob, turned it and-

"Ow, that fucking hurt so bad!" she cursed, cradling her hand to her chest.

Itachi rushed to her immediately and observed her hand. "The door knob must have been planted with spikes intentionally."

"Kami, it really hurts..." Sakura whimpered.

"Unfortunately, I do not have any bandages with me." With no hesitation, Itachi started unbuttoning his black shirt.

"W-What are you doing?!" stammered Sakura. Her cheeks turned a light pink, not used to seeing Itachi shirtless.

"I'm going to use this shirt to wrap your hand, seeing as we have nothing sterile to use," he calmly replied.

"T-that's okay. I should have a first aid kit in my coat. Put your shirt back on!" Sakura hurriedly reached for her kit inside her coat with her uninjured hand. She took it out, clumsily trying to open it. "Um...can you help me?" She blushed.

Itachi's lips curled up a little on one side of his mouth while he buttoned his shirt up. "Still carrying first aid kits around, I see." He smirked to himself. '_How cute.' _The Uchiha took the aid kit from her and searched for the bandages. He reached for her soft and delicate hand which brought back memories for him. Softly and slowly, he wrapped the gauze around the appendage. When he was done, she snatched her hand back.

"Thanks." Sakura acknowledged, not looking at him.

"Hn."

Sakura grumbled in her head. '_Still a man of few words. Stupid 'hn'! What kind of word is 'hn' anyway?! I bet it's not even in the dictionary! I mean c'mon...'_

While she was ranting to herself, Itachi was examining the door. With the kit still in his hand, he touched the knob lightly with it. Nothing happened.

"Haruno, what did you do to get the spikes appear?" He asked.

Her feisty temper returning, she turned her head to look at him and retorted, "I don't know. I just turned the damn thing and now my hand most likely needs stitches!"

Itachi ignored the bite in her tone and surveyed the confined area. He noticed a pair of heavy-looking gloves hanging by a hook on the wall in the corner left to him. _How conveniently and intentionally placed, _he thought.

That was when they heard crackle of static somewhere around the room, which sounded like a radio or speakers. Sakura tried to look for the source of the sound, but to no avail. After a few more seconds, there was a voice that pervaded throughout the room.

It cackled cruelly. "_Welcome, my special ones. I wonder, can you escape? Most importantly, can you save the ones closest to you? Or will you lose everything you have ever loved? Let the games begin._" The static abruptly shut off and all was silent again.

"What the hell was that? What did it mean by saving the ones close to us and the other crap it said? I don't want to stay here any longer! I'm gonna destroy this door" Sakura angrily exclaimed, rushing for the door with her right hand readied into a fist.

Itachi grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. "Don't be so rash, Haruno. What if there are traps on the door as well?" He coolly asked.

Sakura blushed wildly, having missed the feeling of being in his arms before realizing the situation they were in. She struggled in his embrace before going limp. "Then how do we get out of here?"

Itachi let go of her, putting his arms back at his sides. "We use the gloves this person has provided for us." He pointed to them. Connecting the dots, Sakura ran for the gloves, hastily putting one of them on. She hurried for the door until Itachi got ahold of her wrist and stopped her again.

"What? Why are you stopping me again for Kami's sakes?!"

"Let me do it. If something were to happen to you, both your hands would be useless," he calmly said.

Walking over to the other unused glove, he inserted his hand into the glove carefully. When he was sure nothing was in it, he said, "That was foolish of you as well. Something could have been inside it."

Sakura made a face at him, not liking that she got scolded by him.

"Tch, whatever. Glove, schmove."

Itachi approached the door knob and placed his gloved hand on it. Twisting it slowly, the sound of spikes was heard. When he took his hand back, they were gone. He examined if there was any damage done. He didn't experience any pain and assumed the gauntlet was thick enough to protect him. However, indents made by the sharp thorns were impressed deeply into the glove.

"Wow, that doesn't look so good," Sakura peered down at his hand.

Itachi didn't say anything but rested his palm on the knob again, ignoring the spikes coming out and twisted it fully. Pushing the door back, all that met Itachi and Sakura was the sound of it creaking and complete darkness.

"Uh...so I hope the 'ladies first' rule doesn't apply in this situation." Sakura was afraid of the dark, and this wasn't any exception.

"I will go out first." Itachi stepped forward and felt a tug on the back of his shirt.

"W-wait, what if something happens to you? Maybe we should go out together," Sakura nervously said.

"Fine. Just keep your hold on my shirt." He resumed his little walk, a cold breeze hitting his face when he fully stepped out the room. Sakura was right behind him, anxiously looking around.

"..._Help...me..._"

Sakura frantically whispered to Itachi, "Hey, did you hear that?! I think someone else might be here with us!"

Itachi impassively looked at her and said, "I did not hear anything. It must have been your overactive imagination."

The pink-haired girl protested, "No really! There was a hissing sound or something and someone said 'help me'!"

"Sakura, I assure you I heard nothing. Let's get a move on," Itachi coolly said. He walked down the dark hallway, looking for another door or an exit.

"Hey, wait for me!" Sakura sprinted to him and growled to herself. '_He still acts like he knows everything.'_

The ebony-haired man abruptly stopped, causing Sakura to bump into his left side.

"Why did you stop suddenly? Did you find something?" Sakura asked, rubbing her nose.

"Hai. There is a door here, but it may not be the exit. It seems too easy," Itachi evenly said. His body tensed as he opened the door, taking a step back. Sakura took a small whiff of air and made a disgusted face. "What the hell is that smell?!"

She pushed past him, took a step inside the room, and screamed.

* * *

He cracked his neck, feeling the stiffness from the night before. "Hey Itachi, what did we do last night? I don't remember..." He trailed off.

"Huh, where am I? I don't remember ever partying this hard and waking up somewhere else. But then again..." He said aloud and shrugged to himself.

Standing up, his physique at 6'2", reached almost to the ceiling. He wore a dark gray bandana around his head which covered his unruly and spiky ebony hair, along with a black suit and a dark blue tie. He had pale, light blue skin with gill-like tattoos on both sides of his face along with beady black eyes. When he smiled, he showed off his sharpened, pointy teeth, similar to a shark's, reminding anyone just who they were messing with. He mostly came off as an intimidating man to those that didn't know him personally. He went by the name of Hoshigaki Kisame.

Curious of where he was, he found torches on the walls. Glancing around him, Kisame looked at what seemed like a large lump against the wall. Cautiously, he walked towards it. '_You can never be too sure these days',_ he thought. Squatting down as he got a closer look, he realized it was another person-a male. Or Kisame thought this person looked like a male. This guy was snoring loudly, drool coming down the right side of his mouth. He sported bright blonde hair. The most prominent feature were the 3 lines on each side of his face, resembling much like whiskers.

_'Huh, this guy is like me, almost, except mine are tattoos. His looks like scars. I wonder how he got that', _Kisame mused.

He saw what the guy was wearing: a bright orange jumpsuit. Kisame looked at him incredulously. '_Are you kidding me? That has to be the most unfashionable thing ever, and I'm not even a fashionista!'_

Kisame poked him on the shoulder. The reaction he received was expected. The person continued snoring, even more loudly if possible. So Kisame decided to shake him by the shoulders since poking didn't do the trick.

"W-wha? Huh?" The blonde-haired male mumbled unintelligibly. He yawned and opened his bright blue eyes that seemed to shine even in the dark.

"Finally, dude. I was beginning to think you could sleep through an earthquake," Kisame greeted him.

"Where am I? Who are you? Did you bring me here? Where's Sakura-chan?"

"Sorry dude, don't know where you are and no I didn't bring you here. Name's Kisame and who's this Sakura?" asked a confused Kisame.

"Oh nevermind then. I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the kung fu master of Konoha, dattebayo!" His chest puffed out with confidence and pride.

"Naruto, the fish cake? What kind of name is that? And Konoha, the number one dojo in Fire Country?" Kisame snickered.

"My name is awesome, don't hate! Hai, I was raised there when I was little! That's where I met Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Again, who is this 'Sakura-chan'?" Kisame rolled his eyes. Naruto seemed to be the ditzy type.

"Oh, Sakura-chan is one of my best friends! Along with Sas..." Naruto sighed sadly. Everything seemed to fall apart after Sasuke's brother, Itachi disappeared.

"Cool, whatever. Now that we are acquainted just fine, we should figure out where we are because this place is weird as hell." Kisame located the metal door with his gleaming eyes, and reached for the was about to turn it until Naruto said, "Wait!"

Kisame impatiently turned to him and asked, "What? I'm trying to get us outta here, you know."

"I know that, but something doesn't feel right. Let me open the door!" Naruto insisted.

Without waiting for an answer, he turned the latch firmly. In a matter of seconds, strange sounds were heard and Naruto was howling wildly in pain, jumping up and down with his arms flailing around.

Kisame looked blankly at Naruto. "What the hell, dude?"

"Something just stabbed me really hard, believe it!" The blue-eyed man gritted his teeth, blood dripping on the floor.

"Damn, okay let's find something to wrap your hand. Do you have anything?" asked Kisame.

"No, I don't! I don't wanna die!" wailed Naruto.

"You're not gonna die, idiot. You might need medical help though. Alright, let's use my bandana for your hand there." Taking off the bandana wrapped around his head and letting his unruly hair fall over his eyes, he gruffly grabbed Naruto's hand.

"Yo, I'm not gay or anything, and I don't wanna hold hands with you..." Naruto suspiciously eyed him.

Exasperated and grossed out, Kisame growled at him, "I'm using this bandana for your injury, you dumbass. I only love women, for your information. Besides, what man would want to go out with you anyways?"

"Oh."

Kisame brought Naruto's hand up near the light, examining the hand carefully. It was a bloody mess, many cuts present around the palm. It possibly needed stitches, but he couldn't be too sure.

"There, all done. I don't have much medical knowledge when it comes to things like this, but at least I know how to treat wounds," Kisame roughly said, still not over the remark that Naruto made.

"Ah...yeah, sorry about that. Thanks," Naruto scratched the back of his head with his other hand.

"Whatever. Since that stupid doorknob clearly doesn't work, I'll just break the door down."

Kisame readied himself and was about to kick the door open when he heard static coming from the back of the room. Just when he was about to ask his new friend what that was, a distorted voice started speaking.

"_Welcome, you two. I hope you had a lovely sleep. I assume you want to be let out of this room. Unfortunately, things won't be easy for you both. In order to get out, it requires a little something called courage. Have fun!_" Evil laughter sounded throughout the room, making Naruto shiver. It eventually faded, leaving silence between the two until Kisame broke it.

"The hell was that? Courage my ass." Kisame lifted a leg, and kicked the area below the doorknob hard.

The door didn't budge. "Alright, what the hell is this? Gonna do this again," muttered Kisame. He put all his strength into the next kick, and the door remained solid.

"Sorry to crush your dreams, but I don't think the door's gonna open no matter how strong you are," Naruto spoke.

"Fine smartass, then how do we get out of here? The doorknob's clearly unsafe to use," a disgruntled Kisame said.

"Eheheh...I don't know? Maybe we're stuck here forever!"

"You're an idiot."

"And you're a teme just like my friend!"

"What the hell is a teme?" Kisame stared at Naruto like he was crazy.

"Nothing at all! Maybe there's something around the room we can use," Naruto said a little too quickly.

"Nah dude, already checked earlier. Nothing but us here."

"What was that thing talking about earlier again?" Naruto asked.

"What 'thing'? You mean the speakers?" Kisame mentally facepalmed.

"Yeah, that! It seemed to know us! And it said for us to get out we need something called courage!" Naruto eagerly said.

"Wow dude...I can't tell if you're repeating the person's words, or you're really just that stupid. He's basically telling us to use the doorknob even if it has traps."

"Hey I'm not stupid! And how do you know it's a he?" Naruto protested.

"...Is that all you got from what I just said? Hey, I got an idea. Give me your jumpsuit," Kisame demanded. Naruto gave him a weird look, slowly backing away from him. "Are you sure you're not gay? You're having a hard time convincing me you're not."

"I need your jumpsuit to open the door. I think I can use it as a glove instead of getting our hands injured. It looks like it can protect my hand enough," Kisame explained. He also added angrily, "For the last time I'm not gay, I would use my clothes if I could but they're too thin to use!"

Naruto's weird look changed to understanding. "Oh, you're so smart!"

Kisame muttered to himself, "I wish I could say the same for you."

Naruto unzipped his jacket, revealing an orange t-shirt underneath. He shrugged out of it with difficulty, refusing to ask Kisame for assistance. Finally, he was free of the jacket and handed it over to Kisame.

Kisame simply stared at him. '_Really? Another orange shirt? Who could've guessed...' _

"I need your pants too, man. Before you say anything about me being gay again, I need it to combine it with the jacket so it protects my hand well enough," Kisame added in quickly.

Without argument, Naruto started to push the waistband of the pants down with his undamaged hand with trouble.

Kisame looked away when Naruto started struggling with his pants. '_Should I ask if he needs help? Nah...that will only prove to him further that I'm gay. I'll just wait.'_

Naruto did a little wiggle, letting the pants fall to the ground and lifted his left foot up, grabbing the bottom of the left pant and proceeding to the same with the right. "Here, hurry up because I'm getting cold," Naruto whined.

"Stop being a big baby, fish cake, you still have a shirt and boxers on," Kisame snatched the pants from him, wrapping the jacket and pants around his hand tightly, until he was satisfied it was thick enough and the traps wouldn't be able to penetrate the clothes.

"Me, a fishcake? At least I don't look the part!" Naruto retorted.

Kisame's right eyebrow twitched and decided to not say anything back to him, having settled to open the door instead. "Let's hope my hand doesn't get mauled like yours did." He prayed inwardly to Kami-sama that nothing bad would happen. Turning the knob with his jacket and pants-covered hand, he heard activation sounds and felt something dull (even though it was sharp) poke the outer corners of his palm. Relieved he didn't feel any pain, he pushed the door back.

"Yeah! We made it, dattebayo!" Naruto fist-pumped in the air.

"Thanks to my idea and your clothes," Kisame reminded him. He unwrapped the clothes around his hand and threw it at Naruto without warning. The jumpsuit hit Naruto in the face with a smack as Kisame heard a muffled 'ow'. Kisame smirked at him, took a step and said, "Hurry up before I leave you alone."

Naruto huffed angrily, trying to put on his jumpsuit quick as possible. When he was finished, he felt something wasn't right with his garb. Calling out to Kisame he asked, "Hey how do I look?"

Without turning around, Kisame scoffed, "Are you sure you're the one who isn't gay?"

Naruto looked down at his clothes, finding slashes in random places across his jumpsuit. "My clothes are ruined!"

Kisame turned his head, took a look at him and busted out laughing.

Before, Naruto looked like a loser with the jumpsuit. Now, he looked like even more of a loser. There were slits in both his jacket and pants, and what was especially hilarious to Kisame was the long slit across Naruto's crotch, giving him a glimpse of the underwear he was wearing.

"Hahaha, you look so ridiculous!" Kisame managed to gasp out.

"Ugh, you ruined my favorite clothes! Nooo!" Naruto moaned.

Kisame staggered out the door, still bellowing out bouts of laughter. Naruto trailed after him, sulking at his favorite -now ruined- jumpsuit.

The two males were faced with darkness, with no light to go with them.

Kisame, his laughter turning into chuckles, asked Naruto to bring a torch to him.

"Why do I have to do it?" Naruto pouted.

Kisame looked at him with annoyance and pushed past Naruto, grabbing a torch off the wall. Without a word to his newly made friend, he started to walk down the lonesome hallway. Naruto scooted after Kisame, not wanting to be alone in the darkness.

A few seconds after walking, Kisame stopped instantly.

"Why did you stop fishface? We didn't even find the exit yet..." Naruto's voice faltered.

Heavy, harsh breathing was heard in front of them.

"Who's there?" Kisame growled, his aura turned menacingly.

The unknown person took a step and Naruto and Kisame both took a step back.

Coarse pants were heard.

"..._I...want...some meat..._"

Both of the men tensed after what they had just listened to, and then the breathing stopped.

Kisame relaxed a little, until Naruto let out the most girlish scream he had ever heard.

* * *

**A/N**: Not sure if I should continue this, lol. This is supposed to be a horror fic but with romance as well, and a couple of twists. Chapter 2 is already halfway done.

-Kai


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